3-21-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

Pensacola News Journal: “Dysfunctional” VAM a “Farce”

From the editors of the Pensacola News Journal: Thanks to a legal challenge by the Florida Times-Union, Floridians now have yet another glimpse at just how dysfunctional and absurd school accountability standards are in this state. After battling the Jacksonville newspaper to keep the public records secret, Florida’s Department of Education finally surrendered data showing how well most teachers s

by Bob Sikes / 1min 

Influential Miami-Dade Superintendent Finds Selection of New Florida Tests “Insufficient”

StateImpact reporter John O’Connor has this: Miami-Dade schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the process by which Florida chose a new statewide exam was ‘insufficient’ and he questioned whether the test from the American Institutes for Research will be right for Florida. StateImpact Florida’s Sammy Mack caught up with Carvalho today. In particular, Carvalho was concerned the exam would be

by Bob Sikes / 54min hide  //  save

Voucher Expansion Dies in Florida Senate

Miami Herald reporter Kathleen McGrory reports: The Senate sponsor of the controversial school voucher bill withdrew his proposal Thursday, significantly weakening its chances of becoming law this year. Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said he pulled the bill because there wasn’t enough time to develop accountability provisions that everybody could agree on. “I thought it would be better if we took

by Bob Sikes / 2h 

3-20-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Jeb Bush’s Fingerprints on Florida’s New High-Stakes Tests and His Sudden Arrival to the Common Core WarsScathing Purple Musings wrote yesterday that the next FCAT is going to parachute in just like the last one. Only this time, fresh off a field test of predominately wh

by mike simpson / 8h

3-21-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

46 States Tied to Common Core in 2009??

In June 2009, the National Governors Association (NGA) held an education symposium in which NGA outlined its plans for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) money. Twenty-one governors attended; so did US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The following information is included a part of that June 2009 report: At the Symposium, Secretary Duncan made an […]

1 by deutsch29 / 1h 

What’s Wrong with Teacher Education?

What’s Wrong with Teacher Education?. via What’s Wrong with Teacher Education?.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical

1 by plthomasedd / 3h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

Bill Gates’ Sobering 2009 Speech to Legislators

On March 13, 2014, Bill Gates had dinner with 80 senators and other elected officials. Given his keynote the following day to members of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), make no mistake that Gates used his time with the senators and other officials to push the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). However, Gates is more than […]

14 by deutsch29 / 12h 

3-19-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Reading Out of Context: “But there was something missing,” Walter Dean MyersReading Out of Context: “But there was something missing,” Walter Dean Myers. via Reading Out of Context: “But there was something missing,” Walter Dean Myers.1 by plthomasedd / 19min 3-17-14 @ The Chalk Face@ THE CHALK FACE: NPR Whitewashes “Grit” NarrativeNPR Whitewashes “Grit” Narrative. via NPR Whitew

by mike simpson / 7h 

3-21-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

Talk about the Passion

The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. “The Second Coming,” William Butler Yeats All across the upstate of South Carolina recently, yard signs have been appearing: Stop Common Core (see the one held in the photo below): Stop Common Core from Stop Common Core in South Carolina For those of us who have rejected the Common Core movement from the beginning, h

1 by plthomasedd / 2h   

3-20-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): From Baldwin to Coates: Denying Racism, Ignoring EvidenceI have offered two posts confronting a pattern in the U.S. of denying racism (usually arguing class instead) despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary: Denying Racism Has an Evidence Problem The Mistrial of Jor

by mike simpson / 8h 

3-21-14 empathyeducates

empathyeducates:

The Big Topic on Campus: Racial ‘Microaggressions’

A student performed a monologue in March in which he describes how he was misidentified as the help at a cocktail party he attended in the play, “I, Too, Am Harvard,” in Cambridge, Mass. Credit; Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times By Tanzina Vega | Originally […]

by empathy / 5min 

The Science of ‘Paying It Forward’

Graphic; Olimpia Zagnoli By Milena Tsvetkova and Michael Macy | Originally Published at Gray Matter. The New York times. March 14, 2014 ONE morning in December of 2012, at the drive-through window of a Tim Hortons coffee shop in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a customer paid for her order […]

by empathy / 6h 

3-19-14 empathyeducates

empathyeducates: Liberals and Tea Party Find Common Ground with Common CoreBy Karen Wolfe | Originally Published at LA Progressive. March 19, 2014 Few if any political issues have brought together liberals and the tea party to the extent that the Common Core State Standards have. How can something be equally objectionable to political opposites? Tea partiers ideologically […]by empathy / 45min hid

by mike simpson / 1min 

3-21-14 CURMUDGUCATION:

CURMUDGUCATION:

In Praise of Non-Standardization

It is hard for me to argue with fans of national standards, because we hold fundamentally different values.I'm opposed to CCSS, but unlike many other CCSS opponents, I'm opposed to any national standards at all. But it's hard to have that conversation because it comes down to this not-very-helpful exchange:Standards fan: But if we had national standards, everyone would be on the same page. The sys

by Peter A. Greene / 11min 

You Don't Know

Testy stuff experts could discuss all of the following in scholarly type terms, and God bless them for that. But let me try to explain in more ordinary English why standardized tests must fail, have failed, will always fail. There's one simple truth that the masters of test-driven accountability must wrestle with, and yet fail to even acknowledge:It is not possible to know what is in another perso

by Peter A. Greene / 1h 

3-20-14 CURMUDGUCATION: Pearson's Vision for the World

CURMUDGUCATION: Pearson's Vision for the WorldMercedes Schneider recently directed the blogosphere's attention to a Pearson paper from February of 2014, "Impacts of the Digital Ocean on Education." If you're wondering just what Pearson (and by extension, the various government bodies that they own) envisions for our collective future, this document sheds plenty of light.There are 44 page

by mike simpson / 5h 

3-21-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School:

Tell Me Again Why The U.S. Should Mimic The Chinese Education System?

A lot of these suicide stories are coming from South Korea, another country with a high stakes education system that leads to an awful lot of stress and pressure on children and teens, but this one's from China: Surveillance cameras have caught the shocking moment an under-pressure Chinese student jumped to his death during class. Heart-stopping footage claims to show the at first motionless boy s

by reality-based edu... / 7min 

What's Going On In Budget Negotiations

State of Politics on the current state of the negotiations:Asked if he was reviving de Blasio’s push for a tax increase on those earning $500,000 and more a year to pay for a city-wide version of the plan, Silver didn’t deny it. “I’m looking for a reliable, sustainable funding source throughout the state,” he said. It is an interesting turnaround for the budget talks, which come a day after 59 peo

by reality-based edu... / 2min 

Skelos Storms Out Of Budget Negotiation Meetng

Time to read the budget negotiation tea leaves:State Budget talks appeared to hit a major snag Friday morning over the issue of universal prekindergarten. Senate GOP leader Dean Skelos stormed out of a four-way leaders meeting in Gov. Cuomo’s office just after 10 a.m. complaining to reporters that “certain members in the room that represent another branch” were too focused on New York City and app

by reality-based edu... / 4min 

Cuomo Threatens De Blasio Over Charter School Issues

The governor who claims he has nothing to do with education policy keeps getting involved in education policy: ALBANY - Gov. Cuomo is pressing Mayor de Blasio to resolve controversies over charter schools — including three lawsuits — before the state has to get involved, a source said. "The governor is urging the mayor to settle charter school issues, meaning co-location and funding issues an

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

3-20-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Eva Moskowitz And Her Allies Spent $3.6 Million On Pro-Charter Ads In Last Three WeeksHow come they can't pay rent but they can spend $3.6 million dollars on pro-charter ads?A pro-charter school group has spent $3.6 million over the past three weeks on TV ads attacking Mayor de Blasio, an insider revealed Wednesday.Families for Excellent Schools — founded by a deep-pocketed

by mike simpson / 8h 

Five Hours of Gates-led Kindergarten Common Core MAP Tests! #TESTHearingsNow | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates

Five Hours of Gates-led Kindergarten Common Core MAP Tests! #TESTHearingsNow | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates:

Five Hours of Gates-led Kindergarten Common Core MAP Tests! #TESTHearingsNow

Posted on March 21, 2014by Teachers'LettersToBillGates

Dear Bill and Melinda,

You are making history, Bill and Melinda.  You have now reached a new level of notoriety.  You two can now be known in history books as the American billionaire couple — withyour seat on Air Force One and 80 senators in your pockets — who are forcing 5 year olds to sit behind a computer screen taking a Common Core MAP test for 5 hours.  As the richest couple in the world, you have the hubris to think you have that right?

You can now be infamous for pushing a testing system of adaptive Common Core MAP tests down to the early childhood level.  You are accountable because you have used your power and wealth to force feed the Common Core to the Department of Education, the State School Officers, and the state Governors with what amounts to as a whopping $2.3 BILLION as discovered recently by Jack Hassard, noted here by Diane Ravitch.

“We have long known on this site that Bill Gates’  foundation underwrote every aspect of the Common Core standards. Mercedes Schneider has documented nearly $200 million in grants specifically for the writing, evaluation, review, implementation, and advocacy for the Common Core standards.

Jack Hassard, a retired professor of science education, has scoured the Gates search engine and concluded that the investment of the Gates 

Budget panel sensitive to more money for common core :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Budget panel sensitive to more money for common core :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:



MARCH 21, 2014

Budget panel sensitive to more money for common core

by Tom Chorneau

(Calif.) A key legislative budget panel appeared sympatric Thursday to providing schools more funding next year to implement the Common Core State Standards.

Last summer legislative leaders along with Gov. Jerry Brown agreed to provide $1.25 billion for the 2013-14 fiscal year to help school districts buy new instructional materials, provide teacher training and make technological updates tied to the new, national curriculum goals.

While the governor has proposed spending another $149 million next year on student assessments, he has offered no additional funding next year for the Common Core transition.

Thursday, members of the state Senate’s subcommittee on education finance appeared to agree with school representatives that a lot more money will be required to make the conversion successful.

“I think you’ve taken on an enormous challenge and I’ll tell you right off the bat, you are going to need the resources to do it,” said Sen. Mark Wyland, R-Escondido. “I think this whole thing is really, really challenging in the way it will have to be done.”

The subcommittee, which also includes Democrats Marty Block of San Diego and Carol Liu from LaCanada-Flintridge, took no action. But with the state coffers running well ahead of revenue 

New i3 grant competition gets underway

(District of Columbia) The application window is open for local educational agencies to compete for federal grants of up to $3 million to advance educator effectiveness, rural schools and use of technology as well as outcomes for English learners or students with disabilities.

by Tom Chorneau / 5h 

UPDATE Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Creepy Rauner Dems + SITOS N.Y. hedg-fund 'reformers' spend $3.6M on anti-de Blasio TV ads

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Creepy Rauner Dems:

Creepy Rauner Dems

CREEPY! Rauner Dems

Interesting to see who showed up Thursday for Rauner's photo shoot of “Democrats and Independents for Rauner” besides Mrs. Rauner.Only surprise was that Bruce's buddy Rahm wasn't in this picture, even though everyone knows it should be.

Interesting names on the list include:


Rahm/Daley pal, billionaire James Crown -- President of Henry Crown and Company, he serves on the Board of Directors of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and General Dynamics who sits on the Board of Trustees at the University of Chicago. Crown's the guy who bankrolled Stand For Children's invasion of IL and who sat at the table at Aspen with SFC's Jonah Edelman, bragging about how they had hoodwinked IEA and IFT leaders into backing the horrendous anti-union bill SB7. The very same IEA leaders currently attacking their critics still call the bill, "a model of collaboration".

Lula Ford – Former Chicago public school teacher, principal and CPS bureaucrat under Paul Vallas. She probably should have been named CEO after Arne Duncan, but was passed over by Mayor Daley when he appointed Ron Huberman (BTW, what ever happened to

N.Y. hedg-fund 'reformers' spend $3.6M on anti-de Blasio TV ads

Instead of paying their share of rent for co-occupying N.Y.C. public school buildings, Eva Moscowitz and her hedge-fund friends, have spent $3.6 million over the past 3 weeks, for TV ads attacking Mayor de Blasio.According to the Daily News:Families for Excellent Schools — founded by a deep-pocketed group of current and former financiers — has run a series of ads, including a heart-wrenching spot

by Mike Klonsky / 2h